''Colonial Song'' is a musical composition written by Australian composer

Percy Grainger Percy Aldridge Grainger (born George Percy Grainger; 8 July 188220 February 1961) was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist who lived in the United States from 1914 and became an American citizen in 1918. In the course of a long an ...

. Although Grainger created versions for different types of musical ensembles, its most commonly used version today is for concert band.

Background

Grainger initially wrote ''Colonial Song'' in 1911 as a piano piece as a gift to his mother, Rose. Of his piece, Grainger wrote that it was "an attempt to write a melody as typical of the Australian countryside as

Stephen Foster Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known also as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour and minstrel music during the Romantic period. He wrote more than 200 songs, inc ...

's exquisite songs are typical of rural America". Although the piece seems to have been intended as part of a series of 'Sentimentals', Grainger never wrote any other pieces in this series. Unlike many of Grainger's other compositions, the melodies of ''Colonial Song'' are not based on folk song, but are original melodies.

Versions

Although originally written as a piano solo, Grainger arranged ''Colonial Song'' in several other versions. Among the versions published during Grainger's life include: * Solo piano * Symphony orchestra *2 voices ( soprano and

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...

), harp, and symphony orchestra *2 voices (soprano and tenor) and piano *Violin, cello, piano *

Military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the ti ...

scored for: **Woodwinds: D♭ Piccolo, C Flute,

Oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. ...

; Solo B♭ Clarinet; 1st, 2nd and 3rd B♭ Clarinets; Alto Clarinet; Bass Clarinet; Bassoons; Soprano Saxophone; Alto Saxophone;

Tenor Saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while ...

; Baritone Saxophone **Brass: Solo B♭ Cornet, 1st, 2nd and 3rd B♭ Cornet (2nd and 3rd Flugelhorn ad lib.); 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th E♭

Horns Horns or The Horns may refer to: * Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells * The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain * ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...

; 1st, 2nd and 3rd

Trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...

s; Baritone; Basses (

Tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

String Bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar ...

and Contra

Sarrusophone The sarrusophones are a family of metal double reed conical bore woodwind instruments patented and first manufactured by Pierre-Louis Gautrot in 1856. Gautrot named the sarrusophone after French bandmaster Pierre-Auguste Sarrus (1813–1876), ...

ad lib.) **Percussion: Snare Drum; Cymbals;

Gong A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...

;

Timpani Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally ...

in B♭ and E♭; Glockenspiel **Harp and Piano (ad lib.)

Early reception

Early reception of ''Colonial Song'' was not positive. Fellow composer

H. Balfour Gardiner Henry Balfour Gardiner (7 November 1877 – 28 June 1950) was a British musician, composer, and teacher. He was born at Kensington (London), began to play at the age of 5 and to compose at 9. Between his conventional education at Charterhouse ...

disliked the piece, as did critics. Upon hearing the piece in 1914, Sir

Thomas Beecham Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic and the Roya ...

wrote: "My dear Grainger, you have achieved the almost impossible! You have written the worst piece of modern times". Grainger, Percy A. "Anecdotes". Quoted in . However, ''Colonial Song'' was received more positively in America. During his service in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

, Grainger re-worked the piece for military band.

Later reception

By the end of the twentieth century, ''Colonial Song'' had gained acceptance among wind band conductors. Frank Battisti, conductor emeritus of the New England Conservatory wind ensemble, included it in a list of 73 "meritorious" compositions. Noted conductor Frederick Fennell identified it as "basic band repertoire" in '' The Instrumentalist''. By the late twentieth century, ''Colonial Song'' had been recorded by several college and university wind ensembles.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

*
Recording
by the

United States Marine Band The United States Marine Band is the premier band of the United States Marine Corps. Established by act of Congress on July 11, 1798, it is the oldest of the United States military bands and the oldest professional musical organization in th ...

{{Italic title 1911 compositions Compositions by Percy Grainger Concert band pieces Compositions for solo piano